Movies like Zola (2021)
The best movies like Zola (2021) are Miami Blues (1990), Bully (2001) and Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965). If Zola hooked you with its comedy and crime, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedCool Hand Luke (1967)7.7/10 from 1,700 votes
- NewestSomewhere in Queens (2023)Released 2023
Miami Blues (1990)
After Junior is released from prison, he plans on starting a new life in Miami. But when he kills a man in the airport, he flees the scene and finds Susie, a mild-mannered prostitute searching for stability. The two opposites become romantically involved, and Junior steals a badge and gun from a veteran detective. Using the officer's identity, Junior embarks on a crime spree and convinces Susie that he is the perfect man.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBully (2001)
A group of teenagers in South Florida enact a murder plot against their mutual bully, Bobby, who has emotionally, physically, and sexually abused them for years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFaster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)
A trio of thrill-seeking go-go dancers kidnap a young girl and attempt to seduce an old rancher and his two sons out of their small fortune, but their scheme doesn't play out as intended.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like this...All the Marbles (1981)
A two-bit promoter tries to take a women's wrestling team to the top.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSomewhere in Queens (2023)
Leo and Angela Russo live a simple life in Queens, surrounded by their overbearing Italian-American family. When their son finds success on his high school basketball team, Leo tears the family apart trying to make it happen.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHeavy Traffic (1973)
A white dropout struggles to become a cartoonist and filmmaker, drawing inspiration from the harsh, gritty world around him. Still sharing his rundown apartment with his middle-aged parents, an oafish slob of an Italian father and a ditzy nutcase of a Jewish mother, he's ridiculed and looked down upon by his friends, hypocrites who run with violent gangs and the Italian Mafia, and a shallow Black girl who makes her living downtown with the pimps and pushers. The cartoonist gets a chance to pitch a film idea to a movie mogul, but the story proves too outrageous: a far-future Earth, depleted by war and pollution, where a mutant antihero challenges and kills God.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAccident Man (2018)
Mike Fallon, the Accident Man, is a stone cold killer. When a loved one is murdered by his own crew, Fallon is forced to avenge the one person who actually meant something to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBand Aid (2017)
A couple who can't stop fighting embark on a last-ditch effort to save their marriage: turning their fights into songs and starting a band.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKing Cobra (2016)
It’s 2006, YouTube is in its infancy, and internet porn is still behind a paywall. Taking the stage name Brent Corrigan, a fresh-faced, wannabe adult video performer is molded into a star by Stephen, a closeted gay porn mogul who runs the skin flick empire Cobra Video from his seemingly ordinary suburban home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisClubbed (2008)
An underworld drama set in the early 1980s, about a lonely factory worker whose life is transformed when he becomes a nightclub doorman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Ice Harvest (2005)
A shady lawyer attempts a Christmas Eve crime, hoping to swindle the local mob out of some money. But his partner, a strip club owner, might have different plans for the cash.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Rookie (1990)
Veteran cop Nick Pulovski is used to playing musical partners; many of the partners he's had in the past have died on the job, and often as a result of Nick's risky tactics. But the rookie who's been assigned to help Nick bust a carjacking ring is almost as hotheaded as he is … and when Nick gets kidnapped, his newbie partner is his only hope.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisRed Rocket (2021)
After hitting rock bottom in Los Angeles, former porn star Mikey Saber returns to his hometown in Texas to stay with his estranged wife and mother-in-law. Just as tensions begin to ease, he becomes infatuated with a young doughnut shop worker named Strawberry.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Outrage (1964)
At a disused railway station, three men -- a con artist, a preacher, and a prospector -- discuss the recent trial and sentencing of the outlaw Juan Carrasco for the murder of a man and the rape of his wife. In their recounting, the three explore the conflicting testimonies of the parties involved in the crimes. Disconcerting new questions arise with each different version of the event.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisWalking Tall: Lone Justice (2007)
In Dallas, witnesses against a drug-lord are murdered in a safe-house.The testimony of FBI agents becomes the only chance to keep him in prison. They are lodged in another safe-house, but the place is invaded and the agents are executed. However, Kate is only wounded, and her boyfriend Nick believes there is a traitor in the agency and takes her to his ranch to protect her life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
SnoozefestMovies like this68 Kill (2017)
Chip's problem is that he can't say no to beautiful women. This weakness gets him into a world of trouble when he agrees to help his girlfriend steal $68,000.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
SnoozefestMovies like thisBob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)
After returning to Los Angeles from a group therapy session, documentary filmmaker Bob Sanders and his wife, Carol, find themselves becoming vigilante couples counselors, offering unsolicited advice to their best friends, Ted and Alice Henderson. Not wanting to be rude, the Hendersons play along, but some latent sexual tension among the four soon comes bubbling to the surface, and long-buried desires don't stay buried for long.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCleveland Abduction (2015)
A single mother becomes Ariel Castro's first kidnapping victim, and finds herself trapped in his home with two other women for 11 years.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBoys Don't Cry (1999)
A young transgender man explores his gender identity and searches for love in rural Nebraska.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both crime & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisPink Flamingos (1972)
Notorious Baltimore criminal and underground figure Divine goes up against Connie & Raymond Marble, a sleazy married couple who make a passionate attempt to humiliate her and seize her tabloid-given title as "The Filthiest Person Alive".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & crime
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCool Hand Luke (1967)
When petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admiring the new guy's unbreakable will. Luke's bravado, even in the face of repeated stints in the prison's dreaded solitary confinement cell, "the box," make him a rebel hero to his fellow convicts and a thorn in the side of the prison officers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAntonia's Line (1995)
After World War II, Antonia and her daughter, Danielle, go back to their Dutch hometown, where Antonia's late mother has bestowed a small farm upon her. There, Antonia settles down and joins a tightly-knit but unusual community. Those around her include quirky friend Crooked Finger, would-be suitor Bas and, eventually for Antonia, a granddaughter and great-granddaughter who help create a strong family of empowered women.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThelma & Louise (1991)
Taking a break from their dreary lives, close friends Thelma and Louise embark on a short weekend trip that ends in unforeseen incriminating circumstances. As fugitives, both women rediscover the strength of their bond and their newfound resilience.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & crime
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBody (2016)
A nurse's aid, Cathy lives alone. Too alone. When her sister, with whom she's had a falling-out, calls her for her birthday and invites her to the beach, Cathy is exhilarated. But the day gradually slips away from her.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Lou & Lena (2003)
Two friends, Lou and Lena... An agreement for this all night walk.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Cinderella Man (2005)
The true story of boxer Jim Braddock who, following his retirement in the 1930s, makes a surprise comeback in order to lift his family out of poverty.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000)
The Flintstones are at it again. The Flintstones and the Rubbles head for Rock Vegas with Fred hoping to court the lovely Wilma. Nothing will stand in the way of love, except for the conniving Chip Rockefeller who is the playboy born in Baysville but who has made it in the cutthroat town of Rock Vegas. Will Fred win Wilma's love?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy
SnoozefestMovies like thisAll the President's Men (1976)
During the 1972 elections, two reporters' investigation sheds light on the controversial Watergate scandal that compels President Nixon to resign from his post.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCisne (2011)
Vera is a singer in her thirties; she is back in Lisbon for the final performance of her concert tour. The heat and beauty of Lisbon makes one want to be happy. Pablo, the companion she selected from among the many who answered her questionnaire, helps her through the sleepless nights. He has no family, but wishes he had. Vera concerns herself with the mysteries surrounding Pablo's life. Vera is not afraid of the night; she is not afraid of anything.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Road to Paloma (2014)
While Native American Wolf is being pursued by the FBI for having taken the law into his own hands, when his mother was raped and killed on their reservation he crosses paths with Cash, a down and out musician who is coping with the end of his marriage. An unlikely friendship develops, as they ride together towards the Teton mountain range, where Wolf will spread his mothers ashes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Zola?
The closest matches to Zola are Miami Blues (1990), Bully (2001) and Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Zola?
Start with Miami Blues (1990), the closest match to Zola.
What is the highest-rated movie like Zola?
Cool Hand Luke (1967), rated 7.7/10 by 1,700 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Zola?
Somewhere in Queens (2023) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Zola?
Yes: Miami Blues (1990), Bully (2001) and Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965).
How are movies similar to Zola chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Zola, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.